Jett Howard

Draft Workouts: S. Henderson, Blazers, Howard, Nowell, Roberts

The Trail Blazers, who control the No. 3 overall pick, are holding a pre-draft workout Saturday with G League Ignite guard Scoot Henderson, a projected top-three pick, tweets Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report.

Henderson has said in the past he thinks he’d be a good fit alongside Damian Lillard and he reiterated that again today, according to Aaron J. Fentress of The Oregonian (Twitter link).

Recent mocks have Henderson, who was a candidate for No. 1 overall at one point before Victor Wembanyama went to a different level this season, going No. 3 to Portland, with Alabama’s Brandon Miller going to Charlotte at No. 2.

Highkin recently said he thought the Blazers would trade their pick for an established star player, mentioning Jaylen Brown and Pascal Siakam.

Here are a few more 2023 NBA draft-related notes ahead of June 22:

  • Michigan wing Jett Howard will work out for the Magic Saturday, per Cody Taylor of Rookie Wire (Twitter link). The Magic control the Nos. 6, 11 and 36 picks in the draft, while Howard is currently ranked No. 17 on ESPN’s big board. The son of Juwan Howard, Jett is thought to be one of the better shooters in the draft.
  • Kansas State guard Markquis Nowell has workouts lined up with the Mavericks, Pacers, Suns and Clippers. He also worked out for the Jazz and Wizards the past couple days, according to Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington (Twitter link). The 5’8″ Nowell had a memorable performance in the NCAA tournament for the Wildcats, averaging 23.5 points, 13.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 4.0 steals on .446/.419/.920 shooting in four games (40.0 MPG) en route to the Elite Eight.
  • Georgia guard Terry Roberts worked out for the Nets this week and had a previous workout with the Rockets, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Roberts had previous experience with Florida SouthWestern State College and Bradley before playing for the Bulldogs as a senior.

Pre-Draft Workouts: Whitmore, Pacers, Hornets, Lakers, More

The Pacers will host Cam Whitmore for an individual workout on Thursday, according to Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com. The Villanova forward is part of a group of prospects that are expected to come off the board shortly after the top three of Victor Wembanyama, Brandon Miller and Scoot Henderson. Indiana holds the No. 7 pick in this year’s draft.

The Pacers welcomed Johnell Davis of Florida Atlantic, Adam Flagler of Baylor, Armaan Franklin of Virginia, Nate Laszewski of Notre Dame, Leonard Miller of G League Ignite and Isaiah Wong of Miami to a pre-draft workout on Wednesday, tweets Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Davis has since decided to pull out of the draft and return to school.

We have a few more updates on draft workouts:

NBA Reveals Players Expected At 2023 Draft Combine

The NBA has announced 78 players that are expected to attend this year’s draft combine, scheduled for May 15-21 at in Chicago, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports tweets.

Additionally, a select number of standout players from the G League Elite Camp, which takes place May 13-14 in Chicago, will be invited to participate in the combine.

Players will have interviews with NBA teams and participate in five-on-five scrimmages, as well as shooting, strength and agility drills. Some top prospects opt out of the scrimmages.

Victor Wembanyama, the projected top pick, is not on the list. His French League season is still ongoing.

The list of invitees is as follows:

Michigan’s Jett Howard Declaring For 2023 NBA Draft

Freshman Michigan guard Jett Howard has informed Jonathan Givony of ESPN that he intends to declare for the 2023 NBA draft.

Howard, currently recovering from injuries to both his ankles for the next month, is projected as the No. 15 prospect in Givony’s latest mock draft.

“This was a great learning year for me,” Howard told Givony. “It’s what I needed. It taught me how to play within a pro-style offense and be effective, to get out of my comfort zone, and play with other good players.”

The 6’8″ swingman was named to the All-Big Ten Third Team and All-Freshman Team. Givony adds that, before his ankle ailments, Howard had been considered a possible top-10 selection in this year’s draft. Across 29 games in 2022/23, all starts, he posted averages of 14.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.7 BPG.

“I’ve had both ankles nagging for a while, so my dad [Michigan head coach and former All-Star big man Juwan Howard] and the coaching staff agreed with the specialist that it’s better for me to get to 100%,” Howard said. “I was only 50-60% [healthy] for most of the Big Ten. My dad being the coach, he is was looking out for me and wanted the best for my health. He understands that ankles are tricky. I met with a specialist after the Big Ten tournament and they wanted me to rehab for four to five weeks.”